Drag king group from Birmingham calls for greater representation

Performing on the night (left to right): Victor Velvet, Raphael Hoe, Harri Hooker Green, Rex Cherry, Jacques Strappe, Christian Gay.

A Birmingham drag king collective has called for more diverse representation on the UK drag scene.

Kings 'N' Things was formed four years ago, made up of drag kings (performers taking masculine characters) and drag things (performers taking on non gender-specific characters).

Co-founder Christian Gay said the shows were created to address the "under-represented" artform.

Unlike kings, drag queens have become part of the mainstream.

Shows such as RuPaul's Drag Race UK have seen a surge in popularity for drag and there have been calls for the series to showcase kings.

The history of drag kings dates back hundreds of years, when women were first allowed to perform on stage.

Kings 'N' Things is run by performers Victor Velvet, Christian Gay and Harri Hooker Green and shows include stand-up, musical performances and games.

Since its launch, the group has featured some notable drag performers such as Richard Energy and Crip Ladywood.

While kings are less represented in the UK drag scene, drag king Victor Velvet said alternative drag had a history "going back to the ballroom community in New York and in London and the underground culture".

Kings 'N' Things marked its fourth birthday on Sunday with a Cake Candles Chaos show at The Missing Bar, featuring comedy, musical performances and a special edition of its Lip-synch For Your Liquor game at the end.

Drag king Raphael Hoe performed at the Kings 'N' Things Cake Candles Chaos show

Raphael Hoe, who performed at Sunday's show, explained what it meant to him to perform as a transgender man, saying: "It's great to get up there and do femme drag king (performing as a masculine character with some feminine elements) and also be super masculine and show people everyone can do drag."

He describes his drag as being all about "body confidence, as a plus sized drag king and being a trans man… it's kind of helped me tap into loving and accepting myself for who I am".

With drag king and drag thing performers often belonging to other minorities such as the LGBT and disabled communities, there can be many barriers to their success, especially with drag queens more common in popular media.

For drag thing Harri Hooker Green, inclusion is at the heart of Kings 'N' Things and Harri added: "It's important that as a community, everyone that's in that community feels welcome."

Drag performers Victor Velvet (left) and Rex Cherry (right) take part in the 'Lip-synch for your liquor' round of the Kings 'N' Things show

One reason for this under-representation, according to Victor Velvet, is the "element of misogyny to it, because a lot of king performers and thing performers are seen as women if they are assigned female at birth".

He added this meant king and thing performers were "looked down upon and then cis (cisgender, gender identity matches their sex at birth) men have always had a greater place in the drag scene and a far easier time to get represented and to get gigs".

Harri is the newest member of the group and uses he/they pronouns. Harri joined just over a year ago and described a typical Kings 'N' Things show as "camp chaos".

His love of drag grew from a lifelong interest in the theatre and he described his character as "an escape from reality for me, a role I can play and yet also my truest form".

Drag helps Harri explore his identity and becoming a drag thing "spoke to me as I questioned my gender and who I wanted to be".

Audience member and drag artist Ibi Profane praised Sunday's show, saying it was "absolutely smashing" and an example of "what the actual drag scene can do and what it can mean for different people".

Diverse drag shows are important to performer Jacques Strappe because "when you end up with like a lot of queens on the line-up... you don't really know if they expect something very specific from you if what you do is going to be, like, judged".